Current Affairs 5th July 2017

Current Affairs 5th July 2017 - Important Points

• London Fisheries Convention left by - United Kingdom
• Free GST Facilitation Centers set up - Across Goa
• Who named Chairman of Tata Global Beverage? - Natarajan Chandrasekaran
• First planetary defence mechanism is being developed by - NASA
• Alarming depletion of Sunderbans mangrove - Latest Study
• Compulsory registration of marriages recommended by - Law Commission
• New Israeli Crysanthumum flower named after - Prime Minister Narendra Modi
• Menace of terrorism and radicalism to be fought together by Israel and - India

Current Affairs 5th July 2017 - Details

London Fisheries Convention left by - United Kingdom

Britain announced on 2nd July 2017 that it would withdraw from the 50-year-old London Fisheries Convention, in order to fulfil one of its Brexit pledges.
The London Fisheries Convention allows fishermen from some European countries to fish between six and twelve nautical miles from its coastline.
It also allows UK fishermen to fish close to the coast of France, Belgium, Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands.
After a two-year withdrawal period, British fishermen will no longer be allowed into the waters, and vice versa.
Michel Barnier, Chief Brexit Negotiator of the European Union, stated that leaving the London agreement does not mean the Britain would be able to unilaterally decide whom to allow in and whom to keep out of its waters.

More on London Fisheries Convention

• It is an international agreement signed in London.
• It was signed in relation to the fishing rights across the coastal waters of Western Europe, especially the fishing rights of the North Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat and the European Atlantic coast.
• The agreement was partly superseded by the creation of the Common Fisheries Policy by the member states of the then European Communities in 1970, although this agreement to date remains separately from all subsequent agreements within the Common Fisheries Policy.

Free GST Facilitation Centers set up - Across Goa

In Goa, the Office of the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes has set up GST facilitation centers in ward offices across the state and at the department’s head office in Panaji.
The Department of Information and Publicity stated that trained help desk personnel have been appointed for each ward and the head office to help taxpayers in resolving their technical issues related to the migration to GST, amendments, registration, return filing and payments.

The release further read that selected chartered accountants will be providing free consultation services related to GST between 4-6 pm till the 10th July.
The Government has identified some Chartered Accountants for this work and the fees of the identified CA’s would be paid by the government itself.
The accountants would give free advice or consultation to the taxpayers on the implementation of the landmark GST system.

Besides the Ward Office, the facility will also be available at the Commercial Tax Ward Offices in Mapusa,Panaji, Margao, Ponda and Vasco. All Dealers,Tax Practitioners, Trade and Industry and other stakeholders would be requested to avail this facility and get advice and opinions of the Chartered Accountants on any doubts or issues if any they have related to the new taxation system.

Who named Chairman of Tata Global Beverage? - Natarajan Chandrasekaran

Tata Sons head Natarajan Chandrasekaran has been appointed by Tata Global Beverages Ltd (TGBL) as its Chairman with immediate effect on 3rd July 2017.
The TGBL board approved the "appointment of N. Chandrasekaran as an additional director and as chairman of the board of the company in place of Harish Bhat who expressed the desire to step down as chairman." Siraj Azmat Chaudhry is also appointed by the board as a Non-Executive Independent Director of the company.

More about Natarajan Chandrasekaran

• Born in 1963, Natarajan Chandrasekaran is the Chairman of Tata Sons and one of the youngest CEOs within the Tata Group.
• On 6th November 2009, he took over as the CEO of Tata Consultancy Services prior to which he was COO and Executive Director of TCS.
• He assumed chairmanship on 21st February 2017 and soon after was announced the chairman of Tata Motors.

First planetary defence mechanism is being developed by - NASA

NASA is developing the first-ever mission that will work as a planetary defence mechanism against potential cosmic body impacts in the near future.
John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory designed, built and managed the mission, The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART).
The mission has moved from concept development to preliminary design phase, following NASA’s approval on 23rd June 2017.

Important Highlights

• This will be the first-ever design that will have the capability of deflecting a near-Earth asteroid.
• It would illustrate the kinetic impactor technique by knocking the outside object into a different flight path that would not be threatening the planet. The approval by NASA advances the project towards a historic test with a non-threatening smaller asteroid.
• The target for DART would be an asteroid that would be having a distant approach to Earth in October 2022 and then again in 2024.
• The asteroid called Didymos consists of two bodies: Didymos A, which is about 780 meters in size, and Didymos B about 160 meters in size.
• DART would be impacting only smaller of the two bodies, Didymos B, the composition of which is still unknown yet the size is typical of asteroids that could potentially create regional effects to impact Earth.
• After launch, DART would be flying to Didymos and use an APL- developed onboard autonomous targeting system to aim itself at Didymos B.
• The spacecraft is expected to strike the smaller body at a speed about nine times faster than a bullet, around six kilometer per second.

Former French judge Catherine Marchi-Uhel to lead - UN Syria war crimes probe

The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed a French legal expert and former judge Catherine Marchi-Uhel as the head of the independent panel on 3rd July 2017 to assist in the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for most serious violations of international law in Syria.
She is the first Head of the Mechanism.
The former judge has been serving as the ombudsperson for the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group and al-Qaeda

More about Catherine Marchi-Uhel

• She previously served as a judge in France and as an international judge with the UN mission in Kosovo and at the Cambodia court prosecuting leaders of the Khmer Rouge.
• She worked as a senior legal officer at the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and worked in legal positions at the French foreign ministry.

Alarming depletion of Sunderbans mangrove - Latest Study

A new study about the forest cover in India’s Sunderbans has revealed that the mangrove forest cover in the Indian Sunderbans are depleting alarmingly over the past few decades.
The Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) provided the data. A Publication by
the School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University published this study.

Important Highlights

• The study showed that from 1986 to 2012, more than 124 sq.km of mangrove forest cover was lost.
• The total forest cover of the Indian Sunderbans for the year 1986 was about 2,246.839 square km, which gradually declined by 2,201.41 sqkm in 1996.
• It then further decreased to 2168.914 sqkm in 2001 and then to 2122.421 sqkm in 2012.
• The loss in the mangrove forest in the Indian Sunderbans in percentage terms is about 5.5 %.
  The study also points to the mean sea level rise at the Sagar Island Station, which can be considered as a driving factor for coastal erosion, coastal flooding and an spike in the number of tidal creeks.
• According to the authors of the study, Sugata Hazra and Kaberi Samata, the continuation of this process in response to climate change and sea level raise poses a serious threat to the carbon release potential and other ecosystem services of this mangrove forest in future.

Compulsory registration of marriages recommended by - Law Commission

The Law commission of India recommended to make marriage registration compulsory in its 270th Report called ‘Compulsory Registration of Marriages’ submitted to the Government under the Chairmanship of Dr. Justice B S Chauhan.
The Report starts by recognizing that notwithstanding endeavors from all divisions, the general public is still tormented with social indecencies, for example child marriage, polygamy and gender violence.
During the 2nd term of UPA govt., the Rajya Sabha had passed an amendment to make marriage  registration necessary under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969.
The Bill couldn't be passed by the Lok Sabha, and later it was lapsed.
It is being assumed that the present government is in favour of these recommendations, and they may bring and introduce this bill again freshly.

New Israeli Crysanthumum flower named after - Prime Minister Narendra Modi

A new fast-growing Israeli flower was named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 4th July 2017, It will now be called Modi, to mark his first visit remarkable.

More about Crysanthumum

• These are flowering plants native to Asia and northeastern Europe of the genus Chrysanthemum in the family Asteraceae.
• Crysanthemums were first cultivated in China as a flowering herb in the 15th century BC.
• The flower reached American horticulture in 1798 when Colonel John Stevens imported a cultivated variety known as Dark Purple from England.

Menace of terrorism and radicalism to be fought together by Israel and  - India

During his historic visit to Israel that started with firm handshakes and hugs on 4th July 2017, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that common objective of his visit to the country is the economic prosperity of both the nations.
He also said that both the countries must resolutely oppose the evils of terrorism, radicalism and violence that plague our times. Modi said those who believe in humanity and civilized values must come together and defend it at all costs.
His Israeli counterpart Netanyahu, also, asserted that the two countries must stand together to fight this menace.
Giving the pre-dinner press statement at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu home in Jerusalem, PM Modi said, he wants to frame a relationship that transforms the landscape of economic engagements between both the countries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that technology and innovation were important development priorities of India which provides the scope to expand academic, scientific and business links with Israel.